Corporations Serve the State: Sanction Policies and the Zionist Power Structure

One of the key distinctions between a capitalist and a non-capitalist (socialist, feudal, absolutist state) economy is the separation of state and private enterprise.
"....The Levey Levy: How American Zionists Freeze Financial Profits

In 2004 a little noticed administrative add-on in the US Treasury Department took place that has had world historic significance: AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) pressured Treasury to create the position of “Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence”. Equally important, under strong pressure from AIPAC, a zealous Zionist of immense energy, Stuart Levey was appointed to head the new agency.

Levey used all the administrative mechanisms in the Treasury, from threats of penalties, fines and ostracism, to friendly and hostile persuasion, to line up US federal and state public and private pension funds to sacrifice lucrative investments in targeted countries, most of whom, lo and behold, were adversaries of Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Even as Levey was imposing state constraints over the operations of private investors in the US, he organized his entire staff to police the financial world abroad. Levey and his Zionist allies in the so-called “Israel lobby” called on their Congressional cronies to approve sanction policies which not only affected US banks, manufacturers and construction companies but which penalized any European, Asian and Middle Eastern bank which had economic dealings with Iran and other countries on his list (Cuba, North Korea among others).

Levey extended the sanctions to cover firms and investors with even indirect economic ties to the US: his secret financial police located funds which passed from one private bank to another which had tangential links to US banks and Levey applied and secured hundreds of millions in fines against Swiss, Chinese (Macao) English and other banks. Effectively the US imperial state via its Undersecretary of Treasury, harnessed the entire world’s financial system to serve US and Israeli foreign policy...."

Real News Video: Libya: Libyan No Fly Zone Necessary But Intervention Has Imperialist Objectives

Gilbert Achcar: Slaughter of democratic uprising by Gaddafi was imminent, but killing of civilians and regime change by foreign intervention unacceptable

A GOOD INTERVIEW

The Odyssey Dawn top 10

Pepe Escobar
Asia Times

"....
1. Democratic Saudi Arabia. To have the holy grail of medievalism and repression - the House of Saud - voting in the Arab League to bring democracy to Libya while quashing any progressive moves inside the kingdom (and invading a neighbor) will forever live in infamy as the Top Hypocrisy of the Great 2011 Arab Revolt. King Abdullah's billionaire package of "reforms", ie bribes, essentially bolster the House of Saud's two strategic pillars; the security/repression establishment (60,000 new jobs for the Interior Ministry), and the religious clerics (more money to the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice). Even if they have successfully preempted the kingdom's "Day of Rage", this proves how scared they really are.

What many don't know is that Operation Odyssey Dawn is personal - and has nothing to do with Greek heroism but Bedouin hatred. It revolves around the extremely bad blood between King Abdullah and Gaddafi since 2002, in the run-up to the war on Iraq, when Gaddafi accused Abdullah of selling out the Arab world to Washington. So this is not Operation Odyssey Dawn; it's Operation House of Saud Takes Out Gaddafi. With all the heavy lifting subcontracted to the West, of course, and the eastern Libya protesters posing as extras.

Odyssey Dawn - a "just war" - started exactly eight years after the Iraq war. In 2003, at the start of Operation Enduring Freedom - still ongoing, having "liberated" over a million Iraqis from life - George W Bush said, "American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger".

This Saturday, at the start of Operation Odyssey Dawn, Barack Obama said, "Today we are part of a broad coalition. We are answering the calls of a threatened people. And we are acting in the interests of the United States and the world."

Maybe we should call this whole thing Operation Enduring Odyssey - and send the bill to the House of Saud."

BBC Video: شاهد عيان من مدينة درعا 20-3-2011

Syria: Government Crackdown Leads to Protester Deaths

Authorities Should Halt Use of Excessive Force on Protesters

"(Cairo) - Syria should cease use of live fire and other excessive force against protesters, as it did on March 18 and 20, 2011, in the southern town of Daraa, leaving at least five people dead, Human Rights Watch said today.

Sunday, March 20 marked the third day of protests in Daraa, where government forces yet again fired on protesters and used teargas to break up a public gathering, killing one person and injuring dozens of others, according to media reports. Today's fatality brings the total number of protesters killed in Daraa to at least five.

"The Syrian government has shown no qualms about shooting dead its own citizens for speaking out," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Syrians have shown incredible courage in daring to protest publicly against one of the most repressive governments in the region, and they shouldn't have to pay with their lives."...."

From the Despots America Loves: Bahrain: New Arrests Target Doctors, Rights Activists

In Widening Crackdown on Critics, Four Doctors Among 15 Recently Arrested

March 20, 2011.

"(Manama) - Bahrain should end its campaign of arrests of doctors and human rights activists, Human Rights Watch said today.

On March 19-20, 2011, state security forces, often masked and in civilian dress, arrested four medical doctors, and two human rights activists, and sought the arrest of a third. Human Rights Watch also remains concerned about the whereabouts of those doctors and rights advocates still in detention. The arrests, some of which occurred during pre-dawn hours, appear part of a broader government crackdown involving nighttime raids on the homes of those viewed as supporting pro-democracy protesters, Human Rights Watch said.

"Nighttime raids by masked men accompanied by uniformed security personnel have become disturbingly familiar in Bahrain," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The state is now unabashedly terrorizing anyone including doctors who dared to support pro-democracy protesters during the past several weeks."....."

Gaddafi cannot hold out. But who will replace him?

The rebels have shown that they are politically and militarily weak

By Patrick Cockburn

Job Vacancy:


A Libyan Karzai is Needed. Applicants are being interviewed at the US Consulate in Benghazi. Position to be filled in Tripoli in the next couple of months.

".....The first days of foreign intervention mirror the experience of the US and its allies in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, by going extremely well. Air attacks shattered a column of tanks and infantry south of Benghazi. Survivors have fled. The rout may soon resemble the rapid dissolutions of the Taliban and the Iraqi army.

In Iraq and Afghanistan most people were glad to get rid of their rulers, and most Libyans will be glad to see the back of Gaddafi. His regime may well fall more quickly than is currently expected. Pundits have been wagging their fingers in the last few days, saying Gaddafi may be mad but he is not stupid, but this is to underestimate the opéra bouffe quality of his regime.

It is the next stage in Libya – after the fall of Gaddafi – which has the potential to produce a disaster similar to Afghanistan and Iraq. In both cases successful war left the US as the predominant power in the country. In Iraq this rapidly turned into an old-fashioned imperial occupation. "The occupation was the mother of all mistakes," as one Iraqi leader is fond of repeating. In Afghanistan the US always called the shots, even if Hamid Karzai headed the government.

The same problem is going to arise in Libya. There will be a lack of a credible local partner. The rebels have shown that they are politically and militarily weak. Indeed, if this had not been so, there would have been no need for a last-minute foreign intervention to save them.

The local leaders who rise to the top in these circumstances are usually those who speak the best English and get on with the US and its allies. In Baghdad and Kabul those who initially rose were those who fawned the most and who were prepared to go before Congress to express fulsome gratitude for America's actions.

There is a further complication. Libya is an oil state like Iraq, and oil wealth tends to bring out the worst in almost everybody. It leads to autocracy because whoever controls the oil revenues can pay for powerful security forces and ignore the public. Few states wholly reliant on oil are democracies.

Aspirant Libyan leaders who play their cards right over the next few months could put themselves in a position to make a lot of money.....

In terms of the exercise of real authority, Gaddafi is likely to be replaced not by Libyans but by the foreign powers which assist in his overthrow. Going by what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq it will not take much for their actions to be seen across the Middle East as hypocritical and self-serving, and resisted as such."

The hypocrisy behind this intervention

The West cannot go on cultivating hideous leaders and then turning on them whenever the winds change

A GOOD COMMENT
By Yasmin Alibhai-Brown
The Independent

"....And yet we couldn't do it, couldn't wholly back the Libyan mission, not even on a wing and a prayer. Why? It is to do with trust. As Abdel al-Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper and a friend, wrote last week: "The first reaction was relief ... who would not want to stop a bully intent on 'wiping out' those who oppose him? But any relief should be tempered with serious misgivings. First what motives lie behind this intervention?"

There are the obvious reasons for the hyperactivity around Libya and the concomitant, languid indifference to the agony of people in other places with autocratic rulers. Yemen? Oh, no oil, so why bother? Let the "barbarians" slaughter each other. It's what they do. What about Saudi Arabia, then? As grotesque a regime as you can get. Watch the Newsnight report by Sue Lloyd Roberts tonight on this evil empire which interns its females and decapitates dissidents, which spreads its Islamicist tentacles to Muslims worldwide, including Britain, which has marched into Bahrain to "control" the crowds seeking reform. Ah, but it has much oil and much money to buy our warplanes and guns and mansions in Park Lane......

Look also at who are the people most excited, nay delirious, as the skies over Libya turn black and orange? Worse than tabloid cowboys waving their patriotic guns are fanatical "liberal imperialists" – excitable journalists, think-tank warriors wanting action, Foreign Office wonks, horribly hubristic commentators – jumping at any chance to catch a conflict and bend it to Western will and control. The failure of Iraq, instead of chastening them, has made them frantic for one that will bring glorious victory. M. Junaid Levesque-Alam, an astute observer of the modern Muslim world, blogs: "Some Western pundits have started exercising their shoulders to once again take up the White Man's Burden." Read the well-honed thoughts of ex- British diplomat Robert Cooper and you understand how they long to return to a colonial world order with a modern twist.

Even more disagreeable are the posturing European and US politicians up and about and everywhere. Their swagger and sanctimony should fool nobody. On this, I agree with Pilger, Benn and others including Sami Ramadani, an Iraqi with considerable moral authority. In a letter to a newspaper, they censure Western governments who: "... have prioritised cheap oil, arms sales and support for Israel's oppression of the Palestinians above the rights of Arab peoples." Many of the weapons Gaddafi is using were sold by us to him – thank you very much, Mr Blair. As Tunisians and Egyptians made their bid for freedom, PM Cameron was out there selling to the bastards, colluding with them with a smile on his face. The French have been just as busy. (Their excuse is jobs. If miners and other workers are dispensable, why should those making blood goods be for ever protected? So others will step in to make the devil's tools? Let them.) Now they want to be saviours. Not so fast gentlemen. Could you first apologise? And then promise no more such deals? If not, even if Gaddafi is driven out, Western involvement will be suspect. It will be seen as toxic effluence which contaminated the budding Arab Spring.

At the end of the long coffee-drinking evening, most of us seemed to feel that helping rebels in Libya was necessary. But the real passions were raised over what the West does next. Their movers and shakers cannot go on cultivating hideous leaders and then turning on them when the winds change. They embrace Saudi Arabia and in the same moment shoot down Libya. Such hypocrisies will no longer be swallowed by people who are now globally connected. Realpolitik needs, I know, to prevail over idealism some of the time. However, if the West wants respect for backing democracy and humane standards, it has to put its own houses in order. The Arab revolutions have spread to our shores and are calling out for consistency and honour and for a foreign-affairs reformation. Whatever happens in Libya, our Government must listen or be damned. "

Déjà Vu All Over Again! By Dave Brown

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

Top army generals defect in Yemen

Troops and tanks deploy in capital Sanna as three top generals express support for anti-government protesters.

AN IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT

Al-Jazeera

"Three top Yemeni army generals have declared their support for anti-government protesters seeking the resignation of the country's president, Ali Abudullah Saleh.

Brigadier Ali Mohsen Saleh, the head of the north western military zone and the head of the first armoured division, said on Monday that he had deployed army units to protect the protesters.[This sounds just like what the Tunisian and Egyptian armies did.]

Two more generals rallied behind Brigadier Saleh soon after.

Brigadier Saleh said that, "Yemen today, is suffering from a comprehensive and dangerous crisis and it is widespread. "Lack of dialogue and oppression of peaceful protesters in the pubclic sphere, resulted in crisis which has increased each day.

"And it is because of what I feel about the emotions of officers and leaders in the armed forces, who are an integral part of the people, and protectors of the people, I declare, on their behalf, our peaceful support of the youth revolution and their demands and that we will fulfill our duties."

The announcement came days after dozens died when armed men fired at an anti-government protest in the capital Sanaa.

Several ministers resigned from the government after Friday's violence. Abdullah Alsaidi, Yemen's ambassador to the United Nations, also quit in protest over the killings.

Saleh had declared Sunday a national day of mourning for the "martyrs for democracy," while blaming the opposition for "incitement and chaos" that had led to the killings.

Hakim Al Masmari, editor-in-chief of Yemen Post, told Al Jazeera that, "It is officially over, now that 60 per cent of the army is allied with the protesters.

"For Ali Mohsin Saleh to annnouce this, it is a clear sign to President Saleh that the game is over and that he must step down now.

"According to our sources, the president knew that this will happen and he expects Brigadier Saleh to let him leave without further degradation and humiliation....."

Noam Chomsky warns against intervention in Libya

The linguist and philosopher Professor Noam Chomsky talks to Jeremy Paxman about the likely consequences of the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa and the prospects for any western intervention.
He also gives his interpretation of the Obama administration's foreign policy.
Broadcast on Tuesday 8 March 2011.

Remember the civilian victims of past 'Allied' bombing campaigns

People such as Raafat al-Ghosain are often tragically forgotten in the fog of air attacks.

By Robert Fisk

"How life past catches up with life present. The Americans killed Raafat al-Ghosain, pictured above, just after 2am on 15 April 1986. In the days that followed her death, United States officials claimed that Libyan anti-aircraft fire might have hit her home – watch out for similar American claims in the coming hours – not far from the French embassy in suburban Tripoli.

But three weeks later, the Pentagon admitted that three bombs dropped from an F-111 aircraft as part of the US attack on Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, in reprisal for an attack by Libyan agents on a Berlin nightclub, had "impacted in the vicinity of the French embassy" and had caused – to use the usual callous euphemism – "collateral damage".

Ms Ghosain was aged 18, a graduate from an English school on holiday from London, a promising and beautiful artist whose individual death went unrecorded in the country that killed her a quarter of a century ago. Her mother was Lebanese and her father Palestinian, working for a Libyan oil company. She is forgotten today.

We remember, as usual, our own dead. But not the dead of others, Libyans or Lebanese, Afghans or Syrians. We blue-eyed folk count. The rest are "collateral damage". I thought of Ms Ghosain yesterday morning as the "Allies" – a phrase trotted out immediately by the television clamouratti, I noticed – started their "ground preparation" against Libya with their "air assets" against Colonel Gaddafi. Then it was Ronald Reagan. Now it was Barack Obama. Better luck this time, I suppose......"

The First Martyr In Daraa Mahmoud Al-Jawabreh

Syria protesters torch buildings

Crowds have set fire to the courthouse and other buildings on a third straight day of demonstrations in the southern Syrian city of Daraa.


Residents said one person was killed and scores injured when security forces used live rounds against protesters. Witnesses said dozens were also taken to be treated for tear gas inhalation at the main Omari mosque.
Thousands took to the streets on Sunday, calling for an end to corruption and 48 years of emergency law and to protest the killing of five civilians in a similar demonstration two days earlier.
The headquarters of the ruling Baath party was set ablaze as well as two phone company branches. One of the firms, Syriatel, is owned by President Bashar al-Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf, who is under specific US sanctions for what Washington regards as public corruption.
"They burned the symbols of oppression and corruption," an activist said. "The banks nearby were not touched."

Friday's protest was fuelled by the arrest of 15 schoolchildren detained for writing pro-democracy graffiti inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.


The children were arrested in Daraa earlier this month after graffiti appeared on school walls and on grain silos with phrases such as "the people want the overthrow of the regime".

[Comment: What kind of regime arrests school children ? they have been detained for over a week. Only Israel had a history of arresting children. This is vulgar and obscene, with all respect to the Resistance in Lebanon, what this regime does to its people CAN NEVER BE EXCUSED, WHITE WASHED or RATIONALIZED simply because they allowed missiles to go to Hizbullah from Iran. It is time to stop the Bull shit and call this dictatorial regime out. Shame on whoever supports the Arab uprising and  is either silent or minimizing what is taking place in Daraa/Syria...]

Daraa protests

Libya Fight Photos

Many Photos, March 20, 2011.

Al-Jazeera Video: Witness phones from Misurata

"As Gaddafi's tanks roll into the rebel-held city of Misurata on Sunday, there are reports of many injuries amid fierce street fighting.

Mohamed, a member of the city's civil community, speaks to Al Jazeera by phone, and describes what has happened in his city over the past day."

Fresh protests break out in Morocco

Amid escalating unrest in Middle East and North of Africa, Moroccans have also taken to the streets to protest corruption in Morocco and demand better civil rights.

Press TV

"Thousands of pro-democracy protesters gathered in Rabat and Casablanca on Sunday shouting "the Moroccan people demand change!" and holding up placards reading "For the freedom and dignity of the Moroccan people."

Protests in Morocco began earlier this year following revolutions in Egypt and Tunis which led to the overthrow of the governments in both countries.

In February thousands of Moroccans staged peaceful demonstrations across the country, prompting Morocco's King Mohammed VI to emphasize his commitment to “pursuing the realization of structural reforms.”

The king announced on March 9 that he had appointed a committee to draft a reform of the constitution widening the prerogatives of elected officials and ensuring officials are accountable and the judiciary independent.

Mohammed VI added that the new proposals would be announced in June and the draft constitution will be put to a referendum.

On March 14, however, Morocco's riot police armed with truncheons broke up peaceful protest in Casablanca in an unusual show of violence, injuring 13 people and arresting 54 others."

Also, see this, which includes a video:

مسيرات مطالبة بالإصلاح في المغرب

Fears of a 'counter-revolution' in Egypt

"It is the old guard who is trying to force trouble between Copts and Muslims like they have always tried to, but Copts have been smarter than that, and we have become more united with them" Ramy Essam

Activist says he is one of many beaten and tortured by police one month after Mubarak's ousting.

By Mark Levine
Al-Jazeera

"As Egypt prepared to vote on a constitutional referendum on Saturday, I caught up with two activists who were at the centre of the revolution for much of the time protests gripped Meidan Tahrir in Cairo.

Ramy Essam is a singer-songwriter, originally from Mansoura, whose song "Irhal", borrowing chants from the protests, became the unofficial anthem of the revolution, with over 500,000 Youtube views. Last Wednesday when troops and armed thugs cleared Tahrir Square, Ramy was seized, brought to the antiquities museum (which in an indication of the reality of Egypt's situation, is still being used by security forces as a detention facility one month after the removal of Mubarak) and severely beaten and tortured.

Amor Eletrebi is a medical student turned poet, who had just returned from Germany when the revolution began, heading from his hometown of Mansourara to Meidan Tahrir, becoming active in one of the facebook groups that became a symbol of the revolution after the New York Times did a profile about the group and the "facebook flat" in which they were based, directly above the roundabout.

ML: How do you both feel about the "revolution" one month later?

Ramy: My feelings are full of worries and fear that we might just lose all what we have achieved. People started to feel cosy at home once again, laying back and forgetting that they still have got a message to go on with, forgetting that the revolution is still not over, and that there are many corrupt old guard who are still out there and a potential for a massive counter revolution that we should watch out for and face.

Amor: Even with the constitutional referendum, there is no way for me not to be alarmed, concerned and watching the scene in great worry. I can see that we, Egyptians are having to confront the fact that democracy is not such a piece of cake, of how long and hard a process it is to obtain and possess. Frankly, things are moving so fast right now and it is very hard to keep our eye on the prize, so to speak, and yet keeping focused on our larger goals is perhaps the most important thing at this moment......"

Even the Arab World's Only Republican Monarchy is not Immune: Syria protesters torch buildings

One person killed as demonstrations in the southern city of Daraa continue for a third straight day.

Al-Jazeera

"Crowds have set fire to the courthouse and other buildings on a third straight day of demonstrations in the southern Syrian city of Daraa.

Residents said one person was killed and scores injured when security forces used live rounds against protesters. Witnesses said dozens were also taken to be treated for tear gas inhalation at the main Omari mosque.

Thousands took to the streets on Sunday, calling for an end to corruption and 48 years of emergency law and to protest the killing of five civilians in a similar demonstration two days earlier.

The headquarters of the ruling Baath party was set ablaze as well as two phone company branches. One of the firms, Syriatel, is owned by President Bashar al-Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf, who is under specific US sanctions for what Washington regards as public corruption.

"They burned the symbols of oppression and corruption," an activist said. "The banks nearby were not touched."

An AFP correspondent said protesters also tried to march on the home of the town's governor, but security forces used warning shots and tear gas to stop them.

"No. No to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom," marchers chanted as a government delegation arrived in the city to offer their condolences for victims killed on Friday....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Bahraini medics recount hospital horror

"The Bahraini authorities have been accused of heavy-handed approach in handling with Shia Muslim protesters.

According to medics at Salmania hospital in Manama, the security forces surrounded the hospital and did not allow ambulances to enter.

The hospital staff have told Al Jazeera doctors and nurses were beaten up and many doctors are still under arrest.

Our special correspondent has this report. "

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - True democracy for Egypt?

"Millions of Egyptians cast their votes in the country's first fully-free ballot, saying a simple yes or no to a number of constitutional amendments. Will the changes introduce a true democracy? Or could they lead to yet another autocratic system in which little has changed but the faces of those who rule?"

Al-Jazeera Video: Libya intervention comes too late for some

"Opposition forces in Benghazi say 30 people were killed and many more wounded when troops loyal to longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi attacked the western outskirts of the rebel stronghold in the hours after the UN Security Council approved military action against him.

Residents of the city expressed anger with the international community, saying it had acted too slowly to prevent one final assault from Gaddafi.

But opposition fighters more than held their own, driving back the loyalist troops - some of whom may have remained in Benghazi all along as "sleeper cells" - and capturing at least two tanks.

Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from Benghazi."

Gaza: Stop Suppressing Peaceful Protests

Hamas Police Beat, Threaten Youth Calling for Palestinian Reconciliation

COMMENT:

WITH "LEADERS" SUCH AS THESE, THE PALESTINIANS ARE DOUBLY OCCUPIED AND OPPRESSED!

"(Jerusalem) - Hamas authorities in Gaza should punish those responsible for attacks on peaceful demonstrators calling for Palestinian political reconciliation, Human Rights Watch said today.

Hamas police violently dispersed several peaceful demonstrations in Gaza beginning March 15, 2011, including sealing off access to public squares and universities and beating trapped demonstrators.

"It is a dismal reflection on Hamas that it is violently cracking down on peaceful demonstrators calling for political reconciliation," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "This is just the latest instance of Hamas assaulting Palestinians' fundamental freedoms."

Coordinated protests were also held on March 15 in the West Bank, where men in civilian clothes beat protesters, and the Palestinian Authority police briefly detained two protesters....."

Bahrain and Yemen declare war on their protesters

With 42 killed in Sanaa, regimes show they will keep power at any cost

By Patrick Cockburn

"Abrutal counter-revolution is sweeping through the Arabian Peninsula as Bahrain and Yemen both declare war on reform movements and ferociously try to suppress them with armed force.

In Yemen police and snipers on rooftops opened fire on Friday on a mass demonstration outside the main university, killing at least 42 people. The government has since declared martial law and set up checkpoints throughout the capital, Sanaa.

In Bahrain repression began a few days earlier, when King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa called for military support from other Gulf monarchs and 1,000 troops from Saudi Arabia crossed into the island kingdom. "This was the green light for our army to kill people," says Ali Salman, the leader of al-Wefaq, the main opposition party.

As decisively as in Yemen the Bahraini al-Khalifa royal family has rejected reform and showed that it intends to hold power by armed force.......

The crackdown in Bahrain and Yemen means that the Arabian Peninsula, where so much of the world's oil reserves are located, is becoming a zone of conflict. Mr Salam says that whatever the government does "it will not solve the political problems of Bahrain". Minority rule by the Sunni al-Khalifas means the little kingdom will remain unstable in the long term.

In Yemen even short-term stability is not likely. President Saleh faces a host of well-armed enemies in his impoverished country where 40 per cent of the population try to survive on $2 a day. In addition to pro-democracy reformers, there is a powerful independence movement in the south of the country and rebels barely restrained by a truce in the north.

The struggle in Arabia in future will be on several levels: between kleptocratic ruling elites and disenfranchised and impoverished masses; between Sunni and Shia; and between regional powers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran and the US. The price for last week's counter-revolutions is long-term crisis and instability."

Libya conflict: war on Gaddafi is personal – and he is unlikely to retreat

"......Ahhhhh.....The Good Times We Had Together!"

Capturing or killing the Libyan leader has now become an end in itself for the western allies

Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 March 2011

".....The demonisation of Gaddafi has made it impossible for western leaders to countenance his continuation in power. But without the ground invasion they have pledged not to undertake, he could well survive as the overlord of western and southern Libya following a de facto partition, hostile, vengeful and highly dangerous.

This seems to be his plan. Far from giving up or drawing back, Gaddafi escalated the fighting around Benghazi at the weekend. Rather than abandon cities such as Zawiya, as Obama demanded, he is reportedly moving his troops into urban areas where they can less easily be targeted from the air. Meanwhile, his apparent willingness to use "human shields", his threats of retaliation across the Mediterranean area, and his designation of the whole of north Africa as a "war zone" raises the spectre of possible terrorist attacks and an alarming regression to his old ways.

Gaddafi has personalised this war, too. And he is not going to go quietly. Military superiority in the air will count for nothing if pro-regime army and air force units, militia and security forces, and civilian and tribal supporters who have remained loyal refuse to turn on him or kick him out of Tripoli. By its determination to "get Gaddafi", the west has made this a fight to the death – and death may be a long time in coming."

Libya: allied military assets and intial attack sites

As allied missiles rain down on Libyan targets, we look at the military assets in the area, and the first targets hit on the ground

Paddy Allen, Christine Oliver and Richard Norton-Taylor
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 March 2011

(It has some useful information, with interactive maps)

From the Despots America Loves: Bahrain hospitals under siege as soldiers maintain Manama crackdown

Doctors arrested or prevented from working as martial law in tiny Gulf state approaches second week

Martin Chulov in Manama
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 20 March 2011

"..... The tiny Gulf state has the feel of a nation under siege as it approaches a second week of martial law imposed for three months by its besieged rulers. In addition to the troop presence, neighbourhoods remain largely empty; large, glitzy shopping malls have been virtually abandoned and helicopters regularly buzz over the debris-strewn scenes of recent street clashes.

Hospitals, particularly the Salmaniya medical clinic near the centre of town, have received extra attention, largely because of the significance they have taken on since the protests began in January.

As well as being used to treat hundreds of casualties, nearly all of them unarmed protesters, the hospitals served as rallying points for protesters, who took refuge from riot police in the relative safety of their grounds.

Salmaniya was one of several hospitals attacked by security forces during the week. Their entrances clearly show scuffs from rubber bullets and teargas canisters, as well as sound grenades were found well inside hospital grounds.

Images of thousands of protesters, joined by doctors with bullhorns and outraged ambulance drivers, lionised the anti-government movement and contributed greatly to the regime's public relations woes outside Bahrain.

Several doctors have been arrested, among them a leading surgeon, Ali al-Ikri, who has been accused of having contact with foreign agents. Others claim to have been intimidated by security forces and prevented from leaving their homes.

"I live in a neighbourhood surrounded by colonels and senior officers," said one doctor, who did not want to give her name. "If I go out I will be followed. There is a real risk to my safety and those of my colleagues. I have been prevented from returning to work. When I left the hospital, it was in utter chaos."......"

Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll

This poll asks:

Do you support the ongoing military operations in Libya?

With about 4,000 responding so far, 61% said yes.

Sayyed Nasrallah to Arabs: Your Spring Has Begun

Al-Manar

"Hezbollah Secretary Genetral Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah expressed support to the revolutions and the uprisings of the Arab people, particularly in Tunis, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, and Yemen.

Sayyed Nasrallah was speaking Saturday evening during a festival organized by Hezbollah for the support of the Arab peoples’ revolutions, in the Sayed Shouhada compound in Beirut’s southern suburb....

The main points of Sayyed Nasrallah’s discourse.

1- REVOLUTIONS ARE MADE BY THE PEOPLE NOT U.S.

2- AS LONG AS US BACKS ISRAEL, IT’LL BE REGARDED AS PLAYING THE HYPOCRITE

3- SATELLITES JAMMED DURING SAYYED NASRALLAH’S SPEECH

4- UNITY IN TUNIS AND EGYPT IS A MUST

5- RESISTANCE FIGHTERS IN LEBANON SALUTE LIBYAN FIGHTERS

6- WE PRAISE YEMEN’S PEACEFUL MOVEMENT

7- TO BAHRAINIS: YOUR BLOOD WILL DEFEAT TYRANTS

8- RESISTANCE ARMS POINTED AT ENEMY; JUST STAY AWAY FROM IT

9- WIKILEAKS REVELATIONS EXPOSE LEBANESE CONSPIRATORS

10- HEAVY PRESSURE ON MIKATI AS HE TRIES TO FORM A GOVERNMENT.....

SATELLITES JAMMED DURING SAYYED NASRALLAH’S SPEECH

During his speech, a piece of paper was handed to the Sayyed, and he smiled saying: “I have just been informed that many satellite channels have been jammed; being afraid of a word reflects weakness.”.....

WE PRAISE YEMEN’S PEACEFUL MOVEMENT.....

I tell the revolutionaries in Libya: Resistance fighters who fought the Israeli aggression for 33 days salute their fellow fighters in Mesrata, Benghazi, Ajdabya, and all Libyan cities and towns. Gaddafi’s serious crime against Lebanon was the abduction of Imam Moussa Sadr and his comments on this issue are mere lies that cannot change the truth.”.....

To Bahrainis I say: Do not feel down because there are lots of Sunnis who support you.Your blood and wounds will defeats the tyrants...."

تقدير موقف حول الساحات العربيه الساخنه .. أنيس النقاش

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Part 5:

Aljazeera Live

Live Video From Al-Jazeera

Mohammad Nabbous, face of citizen journalism in Libya, is killed

Mohammad Nabbous, who set up an independent internet TV station in Benghazi, has been killed

"The death has been announced of Mohammad Nabbous, described as the "face of citizen journalism in Libya".

Nabbous was apparently shot dead by Gaddafi forces in Benghazi on Saturday.

Known as "Mo", Nabbous set up Libya al-Hurra TV, which broadcast raw feeds and commentary from Benghazi, on Livestream.

Andy Carvin, social media strategist at NPR, said on Twitter: "Mohammad Nabbous was my primary contact in Libya, and the face of Libyan citizen journalism. And now he's dead...."

Inside the Libyan no-fly zone, by Chris Riddell

(Click on cartoon to enlarge)

النص الكامل لكلمة السيد نصر الله في الاحتفال التضامني مع الشعوب العربية

Al-Manar

كلمة الأمين العام لحزب الله سماحة السيد حسن نصر الله في الاحتفال التضامني مع الشعوب العربية الذي أقامه حزب الله في مجمع سيد الشهداء (ع) في الضاحية الجنوبية لبيروت.

السيد نصر الله للشعوب الثائرة: ربيعكم بدأ وستنتصرون وننتصر

".....
اميركا تحاول مصادرة الثورات

واكد سماحته انه "يجب الحذر من اللعب الاميركي على مصادرة هذه الثورات ودماء شهدائها ومحاولة تحريف مسار الثورات ودفع الامور الى تقسيم هنا وحرب اهلية مفتوحة هناك وهذا ما يخدم المشاريع الاميركية البديلة في منطقتنا".

ولفت الى ان "كل كلام اميركي عن خلفية صادقة في الدفاع عن حقوق الشعوب هو كلام منافق فهناك خلفيات اخرى للتدخل الأميركي من تحسين الصورة وادارة الازمة ومن اجل ضمان بدائل مناسبة للمشروع الاميركي حيث تسقط الانظمة التابعة وطمعا في حقول النفط ان تذهب الى أيدٍ وطنية وصادقة ومخلصة". واكد انه "طالما ان هذه الادارة الاميركية تدعم "إسرائيل" في سحقها للشعب الفلسطيني فهي كاذبة في كل ادعاءاتها حول حقوق الانسان والديمقراطية".

تونس ومصر

واشار السيد نصر الله الى انه "في تونس ومصر تحقق الإنتصار الكبير ورحل الطغاة بفعل ثبات الشعبين وتضحياتهم الكبيرة وبفعل حياد المؤسسة العسكرية وكذلك الخواء الشعبي للنظام بحيث ان نظام بن علي ومبارك لم يجد شعبا ليدافع عنه فلجأوا للبلطجية". ودعا السيد نصر الله الشعبين التونسي والمصري الى "التوحد والإنسجام لأن الانقسام قد يؤدي الى ثورة مضادة او الى اعادة انتاج المجموعات الحاكمة". واشار الى ان "اخواننا في مصر يجب ان يعرفوا انهم محط امالنا جميعا وان تأثيرهم يتعدى حدود مصر ليصل الى العالم العربي والاسلامي".

الموضوع الليبي

الوضع في ليبيا اصبح معقدا جدا بفعل التدخل العسكري وهذا يحتاج لوعي الثوار

واكد سماحته ان "ما يجري في ليبيا حرب فرضها النظام على شعب كان يطالب بالتغيير دون استخدام السلاح واصبح الشعب امام خيار الدفاع عن نفسه". وشدد على انه "يجب على كل من يقدر ان يقدم المساعدة لهذا الشعب الثائر ان يقدم ليثبوا ويصمدوا امام المجازر". ولفت سماحته الى ان "اميركا والغرب اعطوا الوقت الكافي للقذافي ليسحق الثورة لكن الناس صمدوا واحرجوا العالم بصمودهم وثباتهم ولو ان ثورة الشعب انهارت خلال اسبوع واسبوعين لعاد العالم يرتب اموره مع القذافي"..
واضاف السيد نصر الله "ليس امام هؤلاء الثائرين سوى ان يصمدوا ويقاتلوا .. الوضع اصبح معقدا جدا بفعل التدخل العسكري وهذا يحتاج لوعي الثوار ووطنيتهم التي نثق بها".

واضاف " تبقى الجريمة الكبرى التي ارتكبها القذافي بحق لبنان والمقاومة باختطافه واحتجازه للامام موسى الصدر ورفيقيه تبقى حاضرة وموضع ادانة ومتابعة من كل الشرفاء واحباء الامام الصدر.. أما كلام القذافي حول سفر الامام الى ايطاليا واستشهاده بالقضاء الايطالي فهو كلام كذب بكذب ونفاق بنفاق ولا يغير من حقيقة الاختطاف شيئا"..

اليمن

وتطرق سماحته الى الثورة اليمنية مشيرا الى ان "احداث اليمن سابقة على ربيع الثورات" واعتبر ان "هناك تعقيدات كبيرة في هذا البلد لكن ما يجري من قتل واضطهاد لا يمكن السكوت عنه على الاطلاق".
ولفت الى ان "كلاً من النظام اليمني والبحريني وضعا البلد على حافة الحرب الاهلية ولولا إصرار الشعوب على سلمية التحرك لكنا اليوم في حرب أهلية بائسة بسبب أداء الانظمة".

الموضوع البحريني

وتطرق سماحته الى البحرين فأشار الى ان دول الخليج "ارسلت الجيوش للدفاع عن نظام غير مهدد والمعارضة سلمية بحتة". واكد ان " ما يجري في البحرين ليس تحركا طائفيا ومذهبيا وانما القول بذلك هو سلاح يستخدمه العاجز في مواجهة حق اي انسان له حق وهذا لن ينال من ارادة الثائرين في البحرين". وتوجه الى البحرينيين بـ "ألاّ يتاثروا باصوات الطائفيين وان يصبروا ويصابروا ويثبتوا في الدفاع عن حقوقهم .. ودماؤكم وجراحكم ستهزم الظالمين والطواغيت وتجبرهم على الاعتراف بحقوقكم المشروعة". واشار الى ان "لديكم قيادة حكيمة وعاقلة وشجاعة في نفس الوقت فاسمعوا لها وانسجموا معها".
وتوجه السيد نصر الله للحكام في ليبيا والبحرين واليمن بالسؤال "كيف تتصورون ان تستقر حكوماتكم وتدوم انظمتكم بعد كل هذه المظالم والجرائم وسفك الدماء.. فمهما طال عنادكم مصيركم الهزيمة فاستجيبوا لشعوبكم قبل فوات الاوان".

ودعا الدول العربية والاسلامية لتحمل مسؤولياتها مما يجري في كل بلد من العالم العربي مؤكدا ان تحمل الحكومات العربية والاسلامية لمسؤوليتها يمنع التدخل الاجنبي منبها الى ان "تخلي اغلب الحكام العرب والمسلمين عن مسؤولياتهم يفتح الباب مشرعا امام التدخل الاجنبي في ليبيا وكل بلد عربي وهذا قد يعيدنا الى مرحلة الاحتلالات والاستعمار".
وفي نداء وجهه اكد ان "على الحكام والعلماء والنخب السياسية وكل من لديه قدرة على التأثير لايجاد حلول مناسبة بما يؤدي الى وحدة البلد وتحقيق الحد الادنى من مطالبات هذه الشعوب المظلومة ان يفعل ذلك".
....."

"Remind Me....Who Are We Supporting Now? The "Mad Dog," or The Libyan Karzai?"

مقتل 4 أشخاص يؤجج الغضب بسوريا

..................من يقتل شعبه خائن..................

Al-Jazeera

"أجج سقوط ضحايا بمدينة درعا السورية غضب مئات المعزين الذين رددوا اليوم السبت هتافات تطالب بالحرية وتتهم السلطات بالخيانة، وذلك في جنازة اثنين من الشباب قتلا على أيدي قوات الأمن أمس الجمعة.

واستخدمت قوات الأمن السورية ظهر اليوم السبت قنابل الغاز المسيل للدموع ضد مئات المعزين ممن شاركوا في الجنازة، وذلك خلال محاولتهم التجمع وسط المدينة للالتحاق بمتظاهرين غاضبين آخرين.

وقال المحتجون خلال تشييع الجنازة "إن كل من يقتل شعبه خائن"، وطالبوا بتحقيق الحرية في البلاد، في حين ذكرت وكالة الصحافة الفرنسية أن إجمالي قتلى مظاهرات أمس وصل إلى أربعة أشخاص، إضافة إلى جرح المئات.

وشهد موقع التواصل الاجتماعي (الفيسبوك) دعوات متزايدة للخروج اليوم السبت بمدينة حمص من طرف مجموعة تطلق على نفسها "يوم الغضب السوري".

وأشادت المجموعة في بلاغ أصدرته بعنوان "بيان الثورة السورية" بـ"أبناء الشعب السوري الذين كسروا حاجز الخوف وقالوا كلمة حق مطالبين بزوال الفساد ونيل الكرامة والحرية".

وطالب البيان بالإفراج عن كافة المواطنين الذين تم اعتقالهم فقط لأنهم شاركوا في المظاهرات.
...."

Syrian mourners call for revolt

Thousands attending funeral for slain pro-democracy protesters call for "freedom" as police fire tear gas.

"Police in Syria have sealed the southern city of Daraa and fired tear gas at crowds of people gathered to mourn the deaths of two men killed by security forces, according to witnesses.

Thousands of mourners gathered in the centre of the city on Saturday, marching behind the coffins of Wissam Ayyash and Mahmoud al-Jawabra, who were killed when security forces opened fire on protesters a day earlier.

Mazen Darwish, a prominent Syrian rights activist, said police had sealed the city with people being allowed out but unable to enter....."

Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Story - Who will lead the military intervention in Libya?

Al-Jazeera Video: Bahrain protesters turn defiant over deaths

"Thousands of people in Bahrain have defied a government ban on public gatherings to mourn the death of a protester who was killed in Wednesday's violence.

Meanwhile, authorities have demolished a statue in Pearl Roundabout, as part of its effort to crack down on anti-government protesters.

Al Jazeera's special correspondent filed this report from Manama."

Al-Jazeera Video: Violence flares at Syrian protest

"After online calls for a "day of dignity", protesters demanding an end to alleged government corruption took to the streets of cities across Syria on Friday. But they were met with a violent crackdown orchestrated by state security forces.

In one video subsequently posted online, water cannon are used on crowds of protesters. Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports on the "Facebook youth" who appear to be keeping one step ahead of the authorities."

Al-Jazeera Video: Yemen under state of emergency

"Yemen's president has announced a state of emergency, after security forces opened fire at a protest in the capital Sanaa, killing at least 41 people.

Witnesses say armed men opened fire from nearby buildings as protesters gathered in Sanaa's University Square after Friday prayers.

Al Jazeera's Yemen correspondent Hashem Ahelbarra reports."

US: Suspend Military Aid to Yemen

At least 45 Killed in Deadliest Attack on Peaceful Protesters

"(New York) - The United States should immediately suspend military assistance to Yemen until President Ali Abdullah Saleh ends attacks on largely peaceful anti-government protesters and prosecutes those responsible, Human Rights Watch said today.

In the deadliest attack since daily anti-government protests began in mid-February, unidentified gunmen on March 18, 2011, opened fire from nearby buildings and the ground on largely peaceful demonstrators in Sanaa, the capital, while security forces stood by without intervening, local human rights activists told Human Rights Watch. Doctors said 45 protesters, including one young girl, were shot dead, and more than 350 others were wounded, most from gunshots.

Human Rights Watch was not able to confirm media reports that members of the security forces also fired on protesters. However, gunmen seen firing from buildings, including the al-Mahweet governor's house and a bank, had shooting skills that suggested that they were professional marksmen, the local activists said.

"Time and again, President Saleh promises he will stop attacks on peaceful protesters and yet the number of dead keeps rising," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The United States should back up its words condemning the carnage with action, and halt military aid to Yemen."

Human Rights Watch has documented numerous attacks on largely peaceful anti-government protesters by the security forces and by armed assailants who have shot, stabbed, or hit protesters with stones and sticks, while security forces stood by.

The United States has provided more than $300 million in military and security aid to Yemen....."

First it was Saddam. Then Gaddafi. Now there's a vacancy for the West's favourite crackpot tyrant

By Robert Fisk

"So we are going to take "all necessary measures" to protect the civilians of Libya, are we? Pity we didn't think of that 42 years ago. Or 41 years ago. Or... well, you know the rest. And let's not be fooled by what the UN resolution really means. Yet again, it's going to be regime-change. And just as in Iraq – to use one of Tom Friedman's only memorable phrases of the time – when the latest dictator goes, who knows what kind of bats will come flying out of the box?


And after Tunisia, after Egypt, it's got to be Libya, hasn't it? The Arabs of North Africa are demanding freedom, democracy, liberation from oppression. Yes, that's what they have in common. But what these nations also have in common is that it was us, the West, that nurtured their dictatorships decade after decade after decade. The French cuddled up to Ben Ali, the Americans stroked Mubarak, while the Italians groomed Gaddafi until our own glorious leader went to resurrect him from the political dead....."

Syrian forces seal city after deadly clashes

AP



"A prominent Syrian rights activist says police have sealed a southern city where security forces killed five protesters.

Mazen Darwish says people are being allowed out of Daraa but they cannot come in. He cited residents who did not want their names published for fear of reprisals.

Funerals were planned today in Daraa after Syrian security forces launched a harsh crackdown yesterday on protesters calling for political freedoms. Accounts from activists and social media say at least five people died in the gravest unrest in years in one of the most repressive states in the Mideast.

Sealing the city appeared to be a way to isolate any further unrest in Daraa.

Darwish said at least five people were shot and killed Friday when security forces tried to disperse hundreds of protesters in the southern town of Daraa, near the Jordanian border. He cited eyewitnesses and hospital officials at the scene.

Yesterday's violence happened during one of several demonstrations across the country in areas including Homs, Banyas and the capital, Damascus [see videos from all these cities posted here yesterday]. But only the Daraa protest turned deadly, Darwish said....."

Yemeni protests have created a melting pot

Hopes have been raised for a better future, but can they be achieved without bloodshed?

A GOOD COMMENT
Elham Manea
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 19 March 2011

"....I called her on Friday after hearing of gunmen firing on a protest rally in Yemen's capital, Sana'a, killing tens of protesters. The voices of ambulance sirens were clear and loud. They stood in stark contrast to the joyful and hopeful atmosphere of the sit-in camp three weeks ago, when Othman and I participated in a women's rally.

Othman, who is in her forties, was drawn to the Yemeni youth movement just like other members of Yemeni urban civil society. She was inspired by their unyielding belief in the possibility of peaceful political change in Yemen.

The youth, on the other hand, took their cue from the Tunisian uprising. One young female leading activist, Wameth Mohammad Shakir, explained that the day after President Ben Ali fled Tunisia they organised a demonstration in front of the French embassy: "We wanted to tell them, take your hands of Arab world's democracy." A day later a huge demonstration started out of Sana'a University. The uprising was launched and it spread to other cities in Yemen.....


Change is a must. Fuad Alsalahi, a political scientist at Sana'a university, says "a total political overhaul has become a national necessity". He suggests three scenarios: "A drastic reform implemented by the president himself; the street will explode and as a result the country enters a phase of political instability; or the Libyan scenario will repeat itself."

The first is not realistic given Saleh's history in sustaining the politics of corruption in Yemen. The second and third alternatives are certainly realistic given Yemen's power and tribal structures.

There is of course a fourth course: a vision espoused by the youths dreaming of peaceful and sustainable political change – one insisting that Yemenis deserve better than a choice between war and corruption. Unfortunately, this one is smothered by the violent response of Saleh's nervous regime."

Yemeni journalist shot dead

The Guardian

"A Yemeni journalist was among those killed when security forces opened fire on protestors in the capital Sana'a yesterday.

Jamal Ahmed al-Sharabi was shot while covering the demonstration for the independent newspaper Al-Masdar.

Reports say that at least 30 [actually 46] people, including children, were killed and many more wounded.

IPI's press freedom manager Anthony Mills said: "We are disturbed by allegations that al-Sharabi may have been killed by security forces... It is unacceptable that journalists reporting on the ongoing uprisings in the Arab world be made to pay with their lives just for doing their job.""

Libya: Jet shot down and shelling in Benghazi despite UN air strike threat

No-fly Zone is just a joke and this jet was shot down not by Obama but by the revolutionaries in Benghazi

Libyan leadership declares ceasefire after UN resolution and Obama ultimatum but fighting continues

Ewen MacAskill in Washington, Patrick Wintour, Ian Black in Tripoli, Nicholas Watt and agencies
The Guardian, Saturday 19 March 2011

"A fighter plane has been shot down and plunged into Benghazi after a night of large explosions and shelling in and around the Libyan rebel stronghold. Fighting has continued despite the regime declaring a ceasefire under threat of UN-backed air strikes.

TV footage and photographs showed the fighter passing over, then bursting into flames and coming down with the pilot apparently ejecting. Reporters in the area confirmed the crash.

There are accounts of troops entering Benghazi and the rebels putting up barricades....

In an attempt to reassure Middle East opinion and his own domestic audience, Obama said the US would help to co-ordinate a no-fly-zone but not lead an operation that will include French, British and Arab jets....."

Gaddafi forces try to storm Benghazi

Reports say rebel stronghold in Libya's east facing assault from several sides despite government's self-declared truce.

.......Obama to the rescue any month now, just hold on!

Al-Jazeera



"Reports from Libya say pro-government forces have entered the western outskirts of the opposition stronghold of Benghazi, with the city also coming under attack from the coast and the south.

Witnesses in Bengazi, in the east of the country, said they heard large explosions on Saturday. Al Jazeera's correspondents reporting from the city told of multiple explosions, plumes of smoke in the sky and a fighter jet getting shot down.

Al Jazeera's James Bays said there were reports that the plane belonged to the opposition rebels.

Government troops reportedly bombed the southern Benghazi suburb of Goreshi among other places. Artillery and mortars were also fired in the centre of the city.

"There's a lot of jittery people here at the moment, there is a lot of activity and a lot of firing going on," Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from Benghazi.

Al Jazeera's Bays said "[the opposition has] the resolve, they are determined to fight back, but they don't have the hardware that Gaddafi's forces have." He said "it will likely be a protracted battle" if Gaddafi tried to take the opposition stronghold......"

The Kissinger Doctrine in Libya

A COMMENT

By Tony Sayegh
(Scroll down for more new posts)

It is increasingly clear that the Western imperial powers, with Arab reactionary regimes cover, are putting into effect in Libya what I refer to as the Kissinger doctrine.

Let me explain. During the Iraq-Iran war, Kissinger used to say that the US strategy is to keep both countries fighting (and exhausting each other) as long as possible. He said that if either country was getting ready to keel over, then the US would help (with arms, intelligence, etc) just enough so that it gets back on its feet and stays in the fight as long as possible. That way the killing and destruction, on both sides, are maximized. The strategy worked and until today, both countries (and the region as a whole), are still paying the price.

A similar strategy was used within Iraq, after the invasion, by encouraging Sunnis, Shias and Kurds to slaughter each other. The US military took turns in supporting each element of the triangle, and sometimes at the same time.

I am afraid that the same strategy is at work in Libya. After decades of describing Gaddafi as the "mad dog of Tripoli," the West declared that he was rehabilitated once the right price was extracted from him. Arms, oil deals and even favorable publicity flowed after that.

Those same US/British/French arms were, and continue to be used, to slaughter the Libyan people and to keep the "mad dog" in power.

The Western imperialists waited, wringing their hands, until the revolutionaries in Libya were in retreat and almost cornered in the last stronghold of Benghazi, to miraculously pull the rabbit out of the hat and supposedly decided to intervene to stop the "mad dog".

We were told yesterday that military action would not be limited to just enforcing a no-fly zone. We were also told that the Western militaries, led by those fearsome air forces of Qatar, UAE and SA, would be "in action" in a matter of hours.

A day later we are told that military "coordination and preparations" are under way. In the meantime the "mad dog" continues his heavy bombardment of Misratah and other cities.

What is really going on?

I think that the game plan is to get both sides to slaughter each other and to destroy the country. As the revolutionaries get exhausted the US will install its own Libyan Karzai who will give the US everything it asks for, including military bases in Libya.

If on the other hand the revolutionaries are not worth their salt and even a better deal can be struck with the "mad dog," then after he is weakened and his wings clipped, a new round of rehabilitation would ensue. Tony Blair is always ready to save his friend in Tripoli and to make a few bucks in the process.

It is imperative that a wise and mature Libyan revolutionary leadership understands how this game is played and not to count on the US/NATO, with the help of the great democracies of SA, UAE and Jordan, to rescue them. They better depend on themselves fast, and get over their illusions.

ثورة الشعب في ليبيا .. اليوم الثلاثون .. د. عزمي بشاره

ثورة الشعب في اليمن .. اليوم الـ 44 .. د. عزمي بشاره

George Galloway: Saudi Arabian Invasion of Bahrain

By Press TV

"Galloway suggests that a deal was done between the US and Arab rulers, whereby the Arab League would back the no-fly rule over Libya and in return the US would acquiesce to the Saudi invasion of Bahrain."

Graphic pictures of the Massacre in Yemen

View at your own risk. Very disturbing pictures from today.

Relief will fade as we see the real impact of intervention in Libya

Welcome though it seems on humanitarian grounds, there are six serious problems with this UN resolution

Abdel al-Bari Atwan
guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 March 2011

"....But any relief should be tempered by serious misgivings.

First, what motives lie behind this intervention?......

So this is the second problem: the main players in this intervention are western powers led by Britain and France with US involvement likely. If Libya's neighbours, Egypt and Tunisia, were playing the leading role that would be something to celebrate....

Finally, there is the worry that the Arab spring will be derailed by events in Libya. If uprising plus violent suppression equals western intervention, the long-suffering Arab subjects of the region's remaining autocrats might be coerced into sticking with the status quo.

The Libyan people face a long period of violent upheaval whatever happens. But it is only through their own steadfastness and struggle that they will finally win the peaceful and democratic state they long for."

Egypt's freedom is far from won

The Egyptian revolution has been plastic-wrapped as victorious and peaceful – but there have been disturbing developments

A VERY GOOD COMMENT
Jack Shenker
guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 March 2011

".....But Ragy's torture was carried out after Mubarak's departure, a stone's throw from the square where Egyptians came together to reimagine something different and dream up a new society. His torturers were the footsoldiers of those tasked with overseeing the country's "transition" to democracy; they took the chants of the revolution and twisted them into words of abuse, leaving lattice-webs of bloody welts on Egyptian backsides before holding 10-minute kangaroo court hearings in secret to find their captives guilty.

As the international media shifted its attention to Libya, Egypt's ongoing revolution faded into the background and found itself incorporated into fresh, unthreatening narratives deployed by western politicians to enable them to talk admiringly of "people struggling for universal rights" while giving a green light for those same universal rights to be scythed down in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.....

Decapitating the regime was merely the first step, but as long as Egyptians' fantasies for the future go beyond the narrow, claustrophobic delineations of formal politics and encompass far-reaching social and economic changes as well, then that energy and ability to mobilise will resist the permanently lapping waves of counter-revolution, however much the tide ebbs and flows.

A revolution isn't an insta-event, it's a permanent struggle to unleash the creativity of people's minds and translate that into a new reality. As the arguments over this weekend's referendum show, that struggle is alive and well in Egypt and will continue to be so – whether the world is watching or not."